Closing Down

I just read someone say this on their blog:

Some of these would make pretty good Midjourney prompts but I will leave that as an exercise to the reader. (Mostly because I've never had the patience to figure out the Rube Goldbergian process for using Midjourney. Step 1: sign up for an account on a gamers chat app??! No thank you.)

And it reminded me of the opposite attitude, told to me by someone I look up to, the dad of my friend.

The best advice I have for aging is to try to remember to keep saying yes. If someone asks me to a Bob Dylan show, I’m going to go. But if someone tells me about Kendrick Lamar, there’s a temptation to say no. But I try to push back against that, and try to keep saying yes to things.

When I watch my kids at school, they’re on the good side of this spectrum. The world is offering up lots of different things to do and learn, and you can see their mind expanding as a result. It’s encouraging and inspiring.

But refusing to try a new tool because you don’t want to sign up for it? Come on. We all have to make decisions about where to spend time, and one of the joys of aging is realising what isn’t worth your time. But I think it’s a double-sided sword. You can be so selective with your time and effort that you forget how to be surprised or impressed. And hey, that’s fine. Use your energy where you see fit.

Just saying, from where I sit, you’re not going to be very fun in conversation.